Do Not Underestimate Us
by Katie.Madison
Summary: Ino raises a very interesting point the day they announced the genin teams. Why are there always two boys and only one girl on every squad? Watch, as the futures of the rookie nine get changed forever by one little question! (Eventual Pairings)
1. Chapter 1

**Do Not Understimate Us**

Ino Yamanaka was not the type of girl to put up with other people's bullshit.

She had scored the top marks of her graduating class, had good looks, tons of personality, confidence, a strong set of morals and analytical ability like no other. So it really should have been no surprise to the new batch of ninjas that she had a problem with the new four-man genin squads Iruka-sensei would assign them all.

"Alright then, everyone, you may now head over to your designated areas to wait for your supervising jonin," finished the chunin, smiling warmly at them all.

"Iruka-sensei, if I may, I have some concerns I'd like attended to," called the blonde girl, rising from her seat prompting Shikamaru to throw his head onto the desk in front of him. Now, he wished he had scored better marks during school so he would not have been placed with this girl who was so, _extra. _Choji munched on his food a bit more quietly than before, wondering what could have angered Ino already. After all, it had been less than three minutes since the groups had been announced.

Most of the other new graduates had on looks of indifference, like Sasuke, or polite interest, like Hinata, the main out liar being Sakura. The pink haired girl had gritted her teeth and was growling lowly in her throat. Was that Ino-pig trying to put herself on the team with Sasuke instead? No way, Sakura just could not let that happen! If it did, then she would have to speak up, for the sake of her and Sasuke's eternal love!

Iruka sighed. He had been going over these group lists for the entirety of last week and all through last night with the Hokage and the teaching jonin. He was sick of staring at the same 24 names in various different orders. Nonetheless, he smiled brightly, if not a bit tiredly, and nodded for her to continue.

"Thank you. Sensei, don't you notice a pattern in each group?" she asked, green-blue eyes scanning each table to indicate she had, in fact, checked each table.

"Yes Ino, the mark average of your group should be about the same, so, most groups contain one exceptional student, one average and one lacking," replied Iruka slowly, not bothering to look at the groups he had memorized and confirm this. However it was slightly strange; he had expected the ever-observant girl to figure that out independently, also, he himself had just mentioned it for everyone else...

"Yes sir, you're right. However, there is something _else!" _Ino insisted, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"...Alright then, what is it Ino-chan?"

"Each and every team contains precisely two boys and one girl!" she cried.

Iruka frowned a bit, not seeing anything out of the ordinary. "Yes, they do. What is your point?"

"Well, is that not a bit sexist?"

"..." The classroom became deathly quiet, as all the children tried to understand such a mature word and concept.

Then the adult in the room decided to it was time to speak up and clarify their young minds. "...Huh?"

* * *

Ino glanced around the room, looking for anyone who might help her explain herself. However, after a minute of finding no one, she sighed and took another ten seconds to formulate a decent explanation.

"Essentially, sexism is the prejudices or injustices society inflicts upon those of a certain gender, particularly females."

"..." Subsequently, everyone became oddly aware of the low sounds Shino's bugs made, flying around him...

Cursing the fact that she was in a room full of twelve year olds who probably spent all their time eating and playing tag, Ino sighed and flicked her hair over her shoulder. She might as well try to explain her complete thought process regarding the matter in question.

"I know for a fact, sensei," she started, "That the girls' average in our school year was very high, almost an eighty eight percent whereas the boys' average was only a seventy four. However, there are _twice_ as many boys in this room as there are girls, meaning that some of the girls who scored higher than some of these boys, knew more ninjutsu and had more chakra control, were not even considered to take this term's transformation and clone Jutsus test!"

Here she paused for some well-timed dramatic effect. Someone gasped in the background.

"They were made to wait another semester so that there would be a higher concentration of eligible boys in their class! Why is that? Do the senseis believe that if there were to be two girls on each team, or daresay a_ full_ girl's team, that they would not be able to manage? That they would be too weak to properly complete missions?"

* * *

When she finished her speech, everyone in the class had their eyes trained on her and their brains working overdrive. Could what the blonde be saying actually be true? If that was the case, then the organized teams were in fact, 'sexist' and nobody had even realized. The kids looked at one another and found that she was right; several competent female candidates were absent, not because they failed the test, but because they were not allowed to take it in the first place.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. Ino, or whatever her name was, was right. He had only every heard of genin groups containing one girl and two boys, never any other combination. He closed his eyes and tried to think of any exceptions, but came up blank; both his parents, his traitor of a brother, and all of his cousins, aunts and uncles had only ever mentioned teams of 2:1.

Naruto was clutching his head and groaning softly, completely confused. Before today, he had never thought so much about _anything,_ let alone politics or corruption, and on top of that, he did not even know what the word sexist meant!

"Well, Ino, I'm not sure what to say to that... But I can promise you that degrading women was not something we tried to do with these groupings," mumbled Iruka, searching through his clipboard for something more he could say to her.

"That does not mean it is any less true," she pointed out proudly. She smiled to herself. If she was not such a talented ninja, she would have been a fantastic lawyer.

Iruka sighed again and pinched the bridge of his nose. He was not really upset with the blonde haired girl, just frustrated that her point was legitimate enough to be brought up in front of the village elders. Then, they would all argue over it for another three days...

"Iruka-sensei, these children should be with their jonin by now!" called the Third Hokage, abruptly rounding the door into their classroom. With a pull from his ever-present pipe, he continued, "I just walked past the _very_ disturbing image of Kakashi dancing around in circles, cheering because he was less late then everyone else, for once! What is the meaning of this?"

"Hokage-sama, there seems to be a problem..."

* * *

**A/N:** Ooooh... I wonder what's going to happen now! And how what's going to happen now, changes the course of history! Please review with your thoughts throughout the story and let me know which parts you liked/disliked. They really mean a lot (^-^) and help me gauge how effective I've been in making you laugh and think - and improve.

Also, check out the pairings poll on my profile and cast your vote for your favorite. I'm taking them into consideration since I'm really not sure. BoyXBoy & GirlXGirl pairings are also present, so please beware of that! We might have a mix of het/homo? (but nothing more explicit than kissing. I'm not writing 12 year old porn XD)


	2. Chapter 2

The Third pulled a long drag from his pipe. He had been Hokage of the Fire Country for a great number of years. In fact, he had served one of the longest tenures in international history. As part of his duties, the man had witnessed practically everything; epic wars, broken families, true love, deceit, inspiration, poverty, inhumanity, and in certain flitting moments; peace. He, and many others for that matter, felt that he was capable of dealing with almost anything anyone could throw at him.

However, what he was not ready for, was a twelve year old questioning the organization of genin groups.

Ever since, _he _was a genin, heck, ever since _his own _father was a genin, the teams had always been as such; two boys, one girl one jonin or chunin. Granted, in those days, the number of women who exhibited, or rather, were _allowed _to exhibit chakra-harnessing capabilities, was substantially lower. However, as the years rolled along, and female ninja were deemed to be just as tactful and powerful as their male counterparts, nobody had thought to change the genin ratio, and accept more girls in to the graduating classes.

The idea was so unimaginably simple, that it is was revolutionary...

Taking another long, silent drag, the Hokage shifted his weight onto his other leg.

The council of elders _hated _revolutionary.

"Yamanaka Ino, you are absolutely right. You female ninja have been treated unfairly. Your journey to become ninjas, thus far, must have been far more difficult that I, or any of the boys here understand. However, we shall rectify this and move forward. Iruka, round up Kakashi and the other teaching jonin and meet me in my office in an hour."

And he hated the council:)

Iruka shuddered about having to interact with a dancing Kakashi. Although he had never outwardly showed it, the silver haired guy really scared him. Obviously, he had heard about his infamously horrid childhood and empathized with him about being alone, but the way Kakashi was always so cheerful reminded him of those sociopaths, _just _on the verge of maiming everyone in sight. Iruka nodded to the Hokage and began to inch towards the door.

* * *

The genin began to mumble and whisper among themselves. Most of the kids looked mildly happy or sad about the group changes, too young to grasp the magnitude of what their valedictorian had _actually_ been arguing about.

Hinata Hyuuga stayed seated where she was, but beneath her blue bangs, her eyes were intense and focused.

She had _completely_ understood Ino's issue and had even been wondering the same thing... But she had been too timid to voice her opinions.

She sighed and slumped forward in her seat, wrapping her arms around her short legs.

All her life, Hinata had been told that she was not good enough; too delicate, too kind-hearted, too shy, too feminine_,_ and too _forgiving, _but maybe, if more girls were introduced into the grad class, then the one-dimensional idea of what a good ninja entailed (brutality, efficiency, narrow-mindedness and a kill-before-question attitude) would change. Hinata knew that being nice was not necessarily a bad thing, but being a pushover was. She just had to prove that she could be kind, humane, and her _own _person but still be a good ninja.

Then maybe her father would begin to respect her.

Then maybe Naruto would begin to respect her.

Then maybe (and this was the biggest maybe of them all) _she _would begin to respect herself.

With those determined thoughts, she stood up, walked over to a group of kids and said, as strongly as she could, to the tall girl in the center, "Hello, m-my name is Hinata H-Hyuuga. I just wanted t-to c-compliment you for standing u-up for us."

She mentally patted herself on the back.

Only five stutters!

* * *

The Yamanaka girl paused for a moment. Giving the dark-haired girl an inconspicuous once-over, Ino could not help thinking that she resembled Sakura, from when before she became her friend.

Internally, Ino struggled with herself on what to think of Hinata.

As everyone knew, after she gained a sliver of confidence, the green-eyed girl had completely destroyed their friendship as soon as she found out that the boy she was attracted to, was the same one Ino was after.

_One boy._

When the shorter girl had called Ino to the big Sakura tree in the park, Ino had thought that the two could just put that boy behind them and move forward with their lives, but the pink-haired girl had insisted that now they were competitors. Hair falling into her eyes, she had even handed Ino back the ribbon she had gifted her five years ago. Sakura had not even asked to clarify if Ino really even liked him or not, she just went off the rumors!

Even if they had been true, what kind of friend believes in rumors about their best friends?!

_It took one boy._

It was particularly frustrating for Ino, because upon further reflection, the blonde had realized that she and Sakura both had crushed on him and felt some childish version of lust, but neither of them _loved _the boy. Even now, Ino appreciated how good looking Sasuke was, but the only reason she fawned over him, was to piss Sakura off.

And to remember that the friendship she thought they shared was not reciprocated.

_It took one mother-fucking boy to kill the love she thought they shared for five. whole. years._

Ino had come to terms with the fact that not all girls would back stab the only friend who had been there for them when nobody else was, but it still hurt her to think of Sakura...

So, unbeknownst to Hinata (who was sweating bullets during the tense silence), Ino needed to gather her own courage optimism, and hope. Finally, she held out one manicured hand and smiled brightly. "You have the cu-_yoo_-test voice ever! I'm Ino, as you probably already know. And thank you, it was just kind of bugging me, you know? Someone needed to say something," she said in her normal, more casual voice.

"O-Of course. Actually, I was just w-wondering the s-same thing. Nobody ever seems to take us girls s-seriously, especially as ninjas," replied Hinata, finally relieved as she firmly grasped Ino's hand.

Four stutters, the Hyuuga thought excitedly, as Ino continued her train of thought, gesturing animatedly with her hands. The genin shuffle was helping her already. Yes!

As the blonde girl continues to share her opinion, Hinata could not help but admire her and be inspired by her. She was beautiful, and took great care of herself but she also managed to be the best ninja that she could. Hinata blushed a little; she really wanted to be Ino's friend. Maybe they would end up on the same team? Hopefully, she slid onto the chair beside the blonde and nodded along to the points she was making.

* * *

On the other side of the room, _some_ girls were not reacting so well to the news of re-organization.

Sakura Haruno had her hands pressed into tight fists trembling atop of her desk. She had moved up from gritting, to grinding her teeth. She _knew_ that the whole reason Ino had even brought up the 2:1 ratio was because she just wanted another chance to end up with Sasuke. Her eyes lit on fire as her rather violent Inner-self began to formulate highly imaginative ways to kill Ino. She grinned maniacally.

Sasuke scowled and pressed the base of his palms into his eyes.

Now it was even more likely that he would end up with more of those annoying, ridiculous, _fangirls _who would only further get in the way of his goal. Although, how much more obsessed could they be compared to the weird pink-haired girl beside him? Once, when Sasuke was called up to write on the board, he had seen that on the back on of one of her binders, she had written, 'Ms. Sakura Uchiha,' in pink ink.

And_ that_, is the story of how he learned her name.

Sasuke shuddered. He had been all of seven years old when that happened.

For all the legitimacy of Ino's point, sometimes girls were absolutely pathetic. Sasuke glanced over to Sakura and frowned. Now, if only she spent half as much time studying her ninjutsu scroll and enhancing her chakra stamina, as she did obsessing over him and her hairstyle, then _maybe_ she would not be such a second-rate ninja.

Sasuke looked around him, trying to find the third-rate ninja in their pathetic group. At least that one_ tried_.

Sasuke spotted an obnoxious flash of orange running atop the student desks, over to the Hokage. Was it just him, or were his big blue eyes glistening as if he was crying? Sasuke knew he had no business in Naruto's emotions but he could not help but feel a bit weird as he saw the blonde loose his footing several times on the desks, shoulders shaking with... dry sobs? He craned his neck forward to see what was going on.


	3. Chapter 3

"Ho-Ho-Hokage-sama," croaked out Naruto, jumping off the first desk to stand before the elder man. The blonde had begun to tremble like a leaf and looked as green as one too. He knew that he had _failed _the ninjutsu test, so if they were going to bring in a huge shipment of much smarter girls, than _he_ would probably be the first put back in school...

He struggled to hold back tears; he did not want to see the look of disappointment on Iruka's face when he had to give back the headband. He did not know why it was so difficult for him to control his own chakra, it was like it had a life of its own.

The tactful Hokage did not comment on his wrecked image, instead he said, rather casually "Do not worry Naruto-kun. Whatever things you have accomplished, you have worked hard for and they will not be taken away from you. No one, not even _I_ can take that head-band away from you. In fact, right now you should be excited. There will be more girls for you to talk to, no?" Noticing Naruto's watery smile, he gave him a wink. Then, with an affectionate pat on Naruto's unruly blonde head, the Third stepped out into the corridor excited and ready to re-organize the students.

Well, excited and ready to watch _other _people re-organize the students, he was still Hokage, albeit a humble one and could delegate such boring work to the others. Namely Iruka.

Chuckling, he made his way to the office.

* * *

"Naruto, what happened?" asked Sasuke, massaging the back of his neck. The blonde was too short to be seen behind Ino's high ponytail, so Sasuke had been practically leaning over the desk as he tried to figure out the problem while still looking casual and uninterested.

"TEME! YEAH WELL, YOU SUCK TOO! Oh wait, what? Oh no, hehe, actually nothing, I just wanted to ask the Hokage something. No big deal or anything, I wasn't like worried about not-being a ninja anymore, che, why would I? Don't be so stupid Sasuke," ranted the blonde, practically revealing exactly what he wad been so worried.

"...Whatever," replied Sasuke, sitting back down and crossing his arms over his chest. Naruto really was stupid sometimes, nobody could revoke your status as a ninja, even the ex-nin were considered ninja. Like his brother. Sasuke then became very off-put and resumed his scowling.

Naruto narrowed his eyes as he stalked over to his current teammates. This teme had the emotional bi-polarity of a fifty-two year old experiencing her first signs of menopause. One second he would be teasing and smirking at Naruto and the next he would close himself off from everyone else and mumble things like, 'Fucking Weasel,' under his breath.

Naruto sighed and plopped down beside Sakura.

"Hey Sakura-chan, what do you think about the- eh?" He stared at the pink-haired girl and realized that she was in an angry trance. Naruto raised his hands over his head to protect himself from the eventual onslaught of her punches but nothing came.

"Naruto, come here," called Sasuke, gesturing over to Naruto.

"What is up with Sakura-chan?" Naruto whispered loudly, uselessly cupping his hand around Sasuke's ear. The black-haired boy cringed at his loud volume and wondered why the blonde even bothered whispering, if _that _was how he was going to whisper.

"She's just mad about the team re-organization," he said tonelessly, pulling the blonde onto the bench beside him and wiping his ear, "Don't disturb her."

"I knew Sakura would come around, she can't stand the thought of not being on a team with her hero, Naruto Uzumaki, believe it!" boasted Naruto, standing up to slam his fist on the table for dramatic effect.

Sasuke frowned and pulled him back down again. What was it with blondes and being overly dramatic? Well, at least Ino had an actual point to her passion, Naruto on the other hand, was just being an oblivious fool.

* * *

The day continued.

Naruto chewed off Sasuke's ear with his ridiculous Sakura-centric fantasies while Sasuke gave non-committal 'hms,' 'hns' and 'yeahs,' whenever Naruto screamed, "TEME, YOU'RE NOT LISTENING." Sasuke himself was lost in his own fantasies; in which his parents were still alive, his brother was still impossibly perfect, and he was still able to smile and laugh like the blonde idiot beside him.

Hinata had managed to work up the courage to invite Ino to the Hyuuga mansion that weekend, so Ino was currently squealing non-stop over all of the girly things she could show the Hyuuga heiress, like new hairstyles and fashions. And as hard as she tried, Hinata herself could not keep the grin off her face as she caught some of Ino's highly infectious exuberance. Ino laughed as the Hyuuga blushed over the thought of trying on skirts and applying make-up for the first time. As she laughed happily, Hinata admired the way even the sun seemed to want her, as its rays reached out to highlight the different tones in her yellow hair.

She could not, for the life of her, figure out_ what the fuck_ was wrong with Sakura to make her cut off her friendship with Ino.

The pink-haired girl had pulled out her binder (the pink one 'Ms. Sakura Uchiha on it, much to Sasuke's annoyance) and was writing out the different possibilities the twenty four students in the graduating class could be arranged into now that more than one girl could be on each team.

Otherwise, Shikamaru had fallen asleep on his desk, Kiba and Choji had taken the liberty of finishing of all three of their lunches and Shino just seemed to be content doing whatever it was that he was doing.

The boy in the sunglasses, however, was not just sitting idly at his desk like everyone thought he was. Unlike the self-obsessed buffoons around him, he was actually trying to figure what was going to happen to them all. He had ordered several of his bugs to slide themselves under the crack beneath the door, through the floorboards, cracks in the window, and along the electric wires of the ceiling lamps. A couple of them had already reached the Hokage's towers and were currently listening in on the jonin's conversation.


	4. Chapter 4

Hiruzen Sarutobi tried not to laugh too much as he looked at the teaching jonin's faces.

"Re-organization? Again? But we spent all that time last night and the whole week before that!" said Kurenai, the newest and only female jonin out of the three who initially organized the lists.

"We had those marks averaged out to within two percent! What could have possibly been the problem?" asked Asuma, supporting his colleague's opinion.

Kakashi was secretly thankful that he would not have to deal with Sasuke and Naruto's rivalry but nodded anyway.

Iruka cleared his throat, "Yes, normally they would have been perfect but Hokage-sama has been inspired to change the group dynamics into integrating a higher female concentration in the graduating classes and indirectly each team."

All three jonin were shocked. "Wh-what inspired this, Hokage-sama?" asked Asuma.

"The class topper this year," replied the Third.

The jonin looked at each other, silently convincing each other to speak up. Fed up, Kurenai decided to venture, "...Uchiha Sasuke? How?"

"Actually," said Iruka, "The class topper was Ino Yamanaka."

Well that certainly made more sense. "Alright then, get to it. I want to hear this discussion!" cried the Hokage, a grin on his face.

Kakashi sighed and closed his book. His scarred eye began twitching.

Just... _fuck__._

* * *

"FOR THE LAST TIME, WE CANNOT HAVE KIBA, NARUTO AND CHOJI ON ONE TEAM! THEY WOULD BE TOO LOUD, OBNOXIOUS AND GET ABSOLUTELY NOTHING DONE. " shouted Asuma as he pulled at his own dark hair.

Kakashi felt a trickle of sweat run down his forehead as he contemplated the irony of the situation. The blade wielder himself was being loud, obnoxious and his endeavors were proving useless. "Asuma-san," he said calmly. "Would you rather we have Naruto, Hinata and Sakura on one team? That poor Hyuuga girl would feel terrible, and she's already such a delicate thing..."

"Well, both of those options are better than having Shino, Shikamaru and Sasuke on one team!" insisted Iruka," That team would be a failure! Nobody would communicate, ever! One of them could just fall off the face of the Earth and the other two would not care less!"

"And just to mention, _NONE _of these teams are academically balanced...hehehe..."

"Hokage-sama, with all due respect, you are not helping!" mumbled Asuma. He huffed and sat back down at his seat. "The other five teams were so much easier to do, what is up with these nine kids?! Why do we even bother?!" He pulled out a cigarette.

Iruka crossed off yet another combination off his clipboard. Only 245 more to go...

Kurenai told the secretary to order them some take-out.

* * *

Asuma, Kurenai and Iruka managed to find fault with another four options while Kakashi observed them all quietly. As the sun began to flirt with the horizon and the ninja grew more frustrated, the silver-haired man got up and plucked the marker out of Iruka's hands. He went over to the large bay window behind the desk and wrote 'Yamanaka, Uchiha and Aburame, equidistantly across the tops of the windows.

"We know for a fact," he said, "That these three cannot be in the same team in any way what so ever, since they scored first, second and third respectively." Then he wrote another four names across the bottom, 'Uzumaki, Nara and Inuzuka and Akimichi.' Then, vertically equidistant, he wrote, 'Haruno, Hyuuga.' He capped the marker pen and stood back. "Ideally, each team gets one of the bottom scorers and one who scored around average." So with these restrictions in place, we can change them slightly due to social, and character restraints."

The Hokage smiled proudly, he taught the guy, who taught the guy, who taught him how to do that:)

* * *

Iruka smiled. "Well then, that is a lot easier. Let's work our way from top to bottom. Since Ino-chan is the most social of the top scorers, she should have one quiet teammate, for sure."

They thought for a minute. "I think Hinata would satisfy the requirements. Additionally, she would benefit as a ninja and a person if she gained some of the Yamanaka girl's confidence," said Kurenai and so with unanimous approval, Kakashi re-wrote, 'Hyuuga' right underneath, 'Yamanaka.'

"Hmm. The only one who ever evokes any emotion out of Sasuke-kun seems to be Naruto-kun," said Iruka, pinching the bridge of his scarred nose. "And although, they are a royal pain on some days, they almost have to be together. Additionally, Sasuke is introverted and Naruto is extroverted, so that is settled, I guess."

"REALLY ARE YOU SURE, I DON'T THINK SO!" screamed Kakashi. He abruptly turned around and placed his hands on wither side of the window, as though the other ninja were cornering him. The silver-haired ninja began panting.

"That's unlike you Kakashi, are you alright?" asked Asuma, suddenly the calm one.

"Yes, yes, I am... Fine. But, are you sure, you want Sasuke and Naruto together?" the silver-haired man whimpered. He promised the Hokage t

"Yes," chorused the other ninjas, even Hiruzen joined in for good measure. So with an unseen grimace, he wrote, 'Uzumaki' under 'Uchiha.' And just when Kakashi had thought he had escaped too... Damn.

"But," interjected Asuma, "The boys need someone level-headed to ground the two and offer compromises and better ways to utilize their talents."

"These two have some truly astonishing potential," added the genjutsu-wielder. "But I highly doubt Sakura is objective enough to help them with that."

"But that means that we will have two people from the lowest tier in this group," said Kakashi.

Asuma shook his head. "Even though his marks don't show it, I beleive that Shikamaru Nara has that exact capability. He is extremely strategic and can organize and plan like no other. I played shogi with him once and I lost pathetically."

"Are you sure, that's not because you are terrible at strategics, Asuma?" Kurenai asked with a sweet smile.

"NO WAY. SHIKAMARU'S A GENIUS BUT THAT DOES NOT MEAN I AM STUPID, I JUST-"

"Calm down, Asuma-san! Kakashi-san, if you please," said Iruka, not particularly in the mood to see these two flirt. With an upturned 'u' eye, Kakashi completed the group by writing, 'Nara,' under 'Uzumaki.'

Well at least there would be no more awkward love triangle. Although, the sexual orientation of Sasuke was to be questioned. Even if he was on the path of vengeance, surely he could find the time to at least flirt back with the girls so blatantly asking him to take them now.

"So then, for Shino-kun. He is also indifferent like Sasuke-kun, but more in the sense that nobody really pays him any attention so he does not bother caring either. Sasuke-kin feels as though all of the female attention is like a distraction." said Iruka, trying to think back to anytime when anyone really asked for the impassive bug user's opinions.

"Well then, it seems that he could do with a girl such as Sakura-chan on his team. More considerate than Ino-chan but less so than Hinata-chan; she would ask him for his opinions but always have her own too, care for him, but not to the point of her obsession with Sasuke-kun. And he would be straightforward with her; supportive but honest, unlike Sasuke-kun or even Ino-chan who would only want to protect her" rationalized Kurenai. "I actually think, that with the proper jonin, those two would make good team members."

Nobody could come up with any argument as to why not so Kakashi wrote, 'Haruno,' under 'Aburame.'

"Now for the last two," said Iruka, smiling. They were finally almost finished. "Kiba-kun and Choji-kun."

"I don't think we should make Choji-kun be with the two girls," said Kurenai, "I think they might start caring for each other too much. Choji-kun would be extremely caring, loyal and chivalrous so Hinata-chan would love him too much and Ino-chan would not allow anyone to take any risks if she felt that they were her responsibility."

"However with the other group," added Asuma, "The others could learn more from his kindness and he could learn more about objective decisions and the will to fight."

"So Kiba with the two girls." concluded Kakashi, moving over to that grouping. After the affirmation, he quickly filled in the two remaining spots.

The Hokage almost pouted. He wanted more entertainment, but he could not very well say that. Instead he said, "Good job everyone. Iruka-sensei, please go inform the genin of their new teams."

Avoiding, a whole bunch of angry parents in the lobby who had expected their kids home at five, Iruka rushed into the rooms and made the announcement regarding the new teams.

* * *

The class exploded.


	5. Chapter 5

Sasuke fought to hide a huge grin. He ended up covering his mouth with his hand because he could not hold it back anymore. He turned to face the window and began laughing softly.

Somehow, he had managed to avoid _all _the fangirls. Additionally, he could actually bare the other boys on his team. Naruto... was Naruto, and although annoying as hell, was still his best, if not only friend, and Sasuke had noticed that Shikamaru was an excellent strategist; always finding the easiest and most effective way to problem-solve, so if the Nara clan member could be persuaded to work a little, he might actually be useful. This might actually work! He almost wanted to pull a Naruto and stand up and scream, "BELEIVE IT!" in to the air and he probably could have because absolutely _no-one,_ not even his most dedicated of fan-girls, was paying the littlest Uchiha any attention at the moment.

Sakura had lost it. Her face lit up to a vibrant shade of red that clashed terribly with her hair as she screamed at the top of her lungs and threw her stationary up in the air.

What!? How did that little shit, Ino's plan actually work?! She took Sasuke-kun away from her! Now, how the hell was she supposed to get him to profess his well-hidden but undying love for her? And who the hell was she paired up with? Some fat guy and that kid that spoke even less than Sasuke-kun? Seriously!? Her life sucked! The only good thing about this was that Ino and no other girl got to be on his team! So at least, everyone had an equal playing field. She punched Naruto because _he _still was on Sasuke-kun's team and he stole their first kiss and just because he was an idiot. Then she collected her stationary and begun planning her 'Get-Sasuke-kun-to-love-me-plan.'

After step twelve, she wrote a side-note in her notebook, 'Kill all blondes.'

Naruto looked pissed off as well. Well, he was looking pained and pissed off.

He was supposed to win over Sakura's heart by being her knight in shining orange armor and owning Sasuke at all the new techniques they would be taught! And Sakura was even madder at him for some reason... Stupid Sasuke! That guy even has the nerve to just stare out the window after everything, like he did not even care! Hmph, well at least he and Shikamaru could have some fun on their team. They could even team up against Sasuke and then he would acknowledge him as the better of the two! Believe it!

* * *

Naruto dragged the still-sleeping Shikamaru on to the bench beside him and poked Sasuke in the ribs until he finally got his attention.

"Teme, Shikamaru!" cried Naruto, shaking his new lazy team member awake. "So I guess we are a team, huh?! I say the first thing we do it come up with an epic team name that everyone will be jealous of!"

"No," said the two dark-haired boys in unison.

"EHHH, WHY!?" cried the blonde.

"It's stupid," said Sasuke, "Not to mention obnoxious."

"It's too troublesome! Team Seven is nice and short," mumbled Shikamaru, falling back to sleep on his desk.

"SHIKA, WHO'S SIDE ARE YOU ON, ANYWAY?" accused Naruto, eyes wide as he shook Shikamaru's shoulders back and forth. That disloyal bastard!

"Nobody's. Sides are too troublesome."

"Don't make me call you a bastard, too, Nara!" pouted Naruto.

Sasuke covered his hand over his mouth again. Yes, he could definitely see this working out. He looked over to his two new teammates. Naruto had slid closer to Sasuke on the bench and was still pouting and Shikamaru had an analytical look on his face. He shook his head a couple times and settled into a neutral expression.

"Well... We can have a team name if it's shorter than 'Team Seven'" Shikamaru said, rubbing the back of his neck.

"No, that's a bad idea-" started Sasuke but it was too late. Naruto had already stood up on the bench and had a handmade banner, pulled out from who know where, held between his outstretched hands. "WE ARE THE RAMEN THREE. BELIEVE IT," he yelled.

"That's not shorter, Naruto."

"Really? How about if we spell it with only _one _'e'?"

Shikamaru turned to look at Sasuke for the first time during the whole conversation. "I can't remember anymore... Is Naruto being serious?" he asked.

"Unfortunately," replied Sasuke, almost pants-ing the overly-excited blonde in his efforts to make him sit back down again. "Yes."

Naruto mumbled out something about Sasuke taking his modesty but was ignored by the other two.

"So, you're Sasuke Uchiha, huh?"

"...Yes"

"You're really good looking."

"WHAT THE HELL SHIKAMARU, ARE YOU LIKE GAY OR SOMETHING?!" screamed Naruto as he pointed not one, but _two _forefingers at Shikamaru.

"No. _I'm _not the one who kissed him. But it's true. He is really good looking and a lot of girls like him. So that makes me wonder, is the Uchiha overrated? Am I actually going to have to do stuff on this team?"

Sasuke scowled a bit, not because he had questioned his abilities, (although that was an unexpected blow to his ego) but more so because Shikamaru was reluctant to do anything. Sasuke did not want to be pulling around _two _dead weights during his missions and he knew the weird looking kid was smart, if not as physically strong as the other too.

"I guess that's something you'll have to decide, however, even if I'm not overrated, I won't be pulling you're weight around here, and Naruto just can't, so you better work."

"Hey!"

"...Damn."

* * *

Sakura was walking over to Choji. After completing her fifty-two step plan, she had initially stepped in Shino's direction but upon seeing his creepily vacant expression, had decided against it.

Choji was a bit upset at the newly re-organized teams. He was looking forward to performing the Ino-Shika-Cho formations like their fathers had, but if he looked at the bright side, this was also a new way to make new alliances with other people and other clans, and hopefully, even some friends. Shikamaru and his father would be proud of him. Munching on chips, he was so pre-occupied he did not notice the pretty pink-haired girl standing in front of him.

"Hi..." said Sakura, growing tired of seeing no response to her waving, "I am Sakura, and you're Choji, I take."

"Yeah, I'm Choji," he said around mouthfuls of delicious fried potato, "You're new teammate, I guess." He was kind of nervous around the green-eyed girl. He had never spoken to her, but knew that she had insecurity issues in her childhood too, so he figured she could not be all that bad.

He slowed his chewing for a bit, he was going to try something really _really _bold.

"Would you like a chip, Sakura?"

"Well, you see I'm on a diet..." started Sakura, but she quickly back-tracked once she saw his expression. Those chips must have been really important to this guy for some unknown reason, so she did not want to come off as rude, "But what harm could one chip, do right?"

She extended her hand into the bag and gingerly retrieved one chip. Oddly aware of Choji's eyes following her every movement, she plopped the chip into her mouth and chewed.

Sasuke might even like girls with nice curves, who knows?

Choji's expression remained blank. Sakura had almost rejected the chip, but she ended up taking it. She was probably a superficial girl, but one who tried to care about other's feelings, but ended up hurting them anyway. Didn't his friend Naruto, have a crush on her that was never reciprocated, kind of like her unrequited feelings for the pretty Uchiha boy?

Choji continued munching but patted the seat beside him. He was never one to judge anyhow, he would give her the chance to prove her true character. Just as she was about to take the offered seat, a sudden flash occurred and Shino sat in it.

"Um, excuse me?" asked Sakura, placing one hand on her hip. "That seat was for me."

"..."

"You should move."

"..."

"Are you deaf or something?"

"Come on Shino, I did offer her the seat, come take mine instead!"

"..."

"I will push you!"

"Sakura-chan, maybe you should just sit beside me on this side. Shino looks kind of out of it! We don't want to cause a scene."

Sakura face palmed. If he were Naruto, she would actually physically move him, but he was the top scorer in their group so it would not do to try and pick a fight with him.

She sighed and was just about to walk over to Choji's other side when she felt an arm grab the back of her tunic and pull her down beside Shino.

"Hey! What the he-" Shino cut her off by pressing a finger to her lips as his eyebrows scrunched together in what looked like concentration.

"Our teacher is Asuma Sarutobi. The three boys have Kakashi Hatake and the team with two girls have Kurenai Yuuhi," said Shino. Choji and Sakura shared a look wondering how on Earth he knew that.

Sakura was not really sure how to ask her question, was he like psychic or something.

But it seemed as though this guy already knew her question.

"How do I know this? I am an Aburame and therefore can use my bugs to scout for information that I interpret."

Sakura crossed her arms over her chest and Choji momentarily paused his snacking. This guy was weird and the way he spoke was even weirder.

"Still, it was not very friendly of you to just take my seat like that," said Sakura, turning to glare into where his eyes _should _be.

Shino did not really know what to say. Nobody had ever called him out on his behaviour like that, most people just ignored him or nodded blankly; wanting to limit the amount of time they had to spend around the strange bug-user.

"I am sorry..." he mumbled out.

Sakura nodded, "That's alright." Choji clapped him affectionately on the back and held out the bag of chips. Shino, placed in yet another new social situation, simply took the bag out of his hands and began eating the chips. Choji and Sakura both raised their eyebrows at the unexpected action.

Choji let him eat a good many, but hastily retrieved the bag when the chip count got dangerously close to one.

"So Shino-kun, what do you like to do in your free time?" asked Sakura. Her interest was stirring at his mysterious nature. He was different, but unapologetically so. He seemed comfortable with himself, something Sakura always liked.

"I like to name my bugs..." he replied.


	6. Chapter 6

"WHAT, WHY AM I ON AN ALL _GIRLS _TEAM?" yelled Kiba. Between his mother, his sister, Ino _and _Hinata, he was going to be_come_ a freaking girl. However, as he turned around to glare at his teammates, he realized that no fucks for his predicament were given there.

Ino was hugging Hinata and spinning around and around as the Hyuuga heir blushed in happiness, dizziness, or maybe both. Kiba groaned. Hinata he could handle but this blonde girl was like a super-girly-girl, one of those girls who liked Sasuke. He wondered how in the hell she had managed to score top of the class if she spent all her time obsessing over her nails and that Uchiha asshole. He rolled his eyes and glared at the floor; this team was going to be a nightmare.

Akamaru leaped up into his lap and pawed at him to get him to look up.

"Mah, what is it, why are you so happy?" asked Kiba, picking up his dog and placing him on the desk in front of him. Indeed, Akamaru was happy. The small white dog's tail was whipping all over the place, he was yipping excitedly and his ears were lifted up high too.

Kiba scratched him behind his ears and frowned. He always understood Akamaru, but he had no idea what his dog was so happy about. It was not like either of them used any female dogs in their ninja techniques or something...

Suddenly Akamaru stopped moving and seemed to _smirk_. His canine features seemed to become more human as he gave Hinata and Ino a look that could only be classified as a mischievous.

And then he got it.

He was on a team with two other girls. So, the likelihood of a girl liking him was _way _higher than that of the other boys'.

He grinned a bit and patted his dog's head. "And this is why I keep you around, Akamaru," he said as the puppy nipped his hand playfully; this team would definitely be a dream, but maybe not a nightmare...

As he attempted to wrap his twelve-year old brain around the mysterious concept of dating, the two girls managed to quiet down.

* * *

Or rather, Iruka had whacked them with the attendance clipboard in the efforts of shutting them up.

Still giggling, the two sat down.

Iruka sighed.

"Ino-chan, you were the one who brought up this 2:1 ratio issue. I presume you feel better."

"Definitely, Iruka-sensei," she said in her more formal voice, "It's nice to see justice served."

"Of course, also, although your team does not have any new graduates, it has been re-shuffled to reflect a better academic average. I hope you take advantage of this fact, Ino-chan."

The blonde hair girl smiled brightly and turned fully to face her sensei. "We won't let you down sensei!" she said.

Iruka thought he saw something in her turquoise eyes, similar to the spark in Naruto's blue ones, but not quite. While they both spoke of determination; Naruto's eyes sparkled more with unshed tears and the anxiety to prove himself capable and receive the attention he had been so wrongfully denied. Ino's eyes held a deeper color, with more confidence and grit swirling in the jewel tones that expressed a desire for success, justice and breaking the stereotypes.

The chunin smiled. "You better! And you too Hinata-chan, this is your time to take advantage of these new opportunities as young kunoichi."

Then he crouched down a little and signaled for Ino and Hinata to lean in closer. "And it better not be that I sat in a room with Kakashi sensei for three whole hours just to have you slack off!" The two genin girls laughed at that. They both knew that Iruka sensei was more than a little creep-ed out by the silver haired jonin prodigy.

"Of course, Iruka sensei!" laughed Ino.

* * *

"It would be a waste, wouldn't it, Iruka sensei?" Kakashi pondered aloud.

"WAHH!" All three ninja turned around defensively and Hinata even activated her Byakugan. This man was fast as hell! The new addition to their group, turned his one visible eye into an upside down, 'u' shape and waved happily at them all as if springing up into a classroom at the speed of light was a normal occurrence.

Hinata blushed and scooted closer to Kiba on the other side of the bench.

"Ah! Kakashi sensei, I uh-, we uh-, well um-, you see-," mumbled Iruka, running his hands through his dark hair. Damn, he was caught! The worst part was that now he knew his name! Before, he had always referred to Iruka as 'the Grad Class Chunin,' or 'The Chunin,' or even 'Hokage-sama's Bitch,' that one time he showed up to the main office, completely wasted on the anniversary of Obito's death. Iruka was so screwed! What if Kakashi told the Hokage that he was bad-talking him to the genin?

The silver haired man pulled out an orange paper-back book and began to read. "I'm still listening," he said.

Iruka and Ino shared a look and the Yamanaka girl instantly knew why Iruka found this guy unsettling.

"Ha ha ha, that's good Kakashi sensei! Because you see, as a matter of fact, the _reason _why Iruka sensei was so distraught about spending such a long time with such a charming man as yourself, is because he was struggling to make sure you did not find about the _Secret!_"

"The Secret?" asked Kakashi, minutely raising his one black eye at the girl.

Ino smiled fakely. "Uh-huh!" she said, signaling Iruka an OK sign to show him that she had this under control. Both Kiba and Hinata moved forward; curious to see how their teammate was going to handle this crazy looking silver-haired man.

"Really? I just thought that your sensei didn't like me..." said Kakashi rather neutrally.

"ARE YOU CRAZY?" asked Ino, laughing a little too quickly for it to sound natural. She quickly reigned in the sound. "Ha ha ha! I might as well tell you the secret so you won't believe such a thing! Iruka sensei and the other jonin were planning you a surprise birthday party!"

"REALLY?" asked both Kakashi and Iruka in shocked unison.

"Yeah! Um, sorry Iruka-sensei! I guess your plans are ruined because of me! That's too bad! Well, maybe next year?!" she finished, clasping her hands together in apology.

"Iruka, is she on my team?" asked Kakashi, pointing at Ino.

"N-n-no. She isn't... Why?"

"Because I like her!" he said, messing up her fair colored hair. "That was a great lie! Oh man, _surprise party_, that's hilarious! Since you're not my old Haruno girl or a Hyuuga, you must be Yamanaka Ino. So little Ino, let me tell you something; our sensei here, is so scared of me that he takes detours around the entirety of Konoha just to avoid me! And every time I take out my Icha Icha books in public, you should see _the look_ on his face, oh! There it is right now!" said Kakashi, leaning forward to observe Iruka if he was a lab specimen.

Iruka looked embarrassed but he was not one to be pushed and teased around so easily. "I do _not, _Kakashi sensei. Besides, _everyone_ looks at you oddly when you carry those books around, you can't just read such explicit novels in public!"

"Why are you so uptight? Don't act like you've never read por-, I mean 'explicit novels' before."

"Not everyone is like _you, _I can control my habits, like a civilized human being!"

"...Did you just call me an uncivilized human being?"

"NO! That's not what I-, you're just-, of course, I wouldn't-, there are a lot of-," said Iruka, spluttering once again.

"Don't worry! I'm not offended. Between Icha Icha and civiliazed humans, I choose Icha Icha. Who really needs plumbing anyway?"

* * *

"...Whoa!" cried Ino as she felt sharp teeth dig into the back of her top and yank her backwards. She turned around to see Akamaru giving her an apologetic look.

"Sh! Let's get out of here! Those two look like they could bicker forever!" whispered Hinata. Kiba nodded in agreement and the three of them crawled beneath their desks to the exit.

They straightened themselves up and were just about to exit the classroom when a beautiful, red-eyed lady stepped around the bend and smiled at the three of them."My name is Kurenai Yuuhi," she said, "And I am going to be your new sensei."

"He's Kiba, I'm Hinata and this is Ino. N-nice to meet you Kurenai-sensei," said Hinata.

"DAMN! WOMEN! WOMEN _EVERYWHERE_! BY THE TIME I'M A CHUNIN I'M GOING TO HAVE LEGIT TITS, I SWEAR! EVEN IF ALL OF YOU ARE PRETTY GOOD-LOOKING."

"You'll have to excuse him, he's PMSing," whispered Ino as their sensei began to giggle at the antics of her very first genin team.


	7. Chapter 7

"My name is Kakashi Hatake and I'll be your new sensei. Why don't you tell me a little bit about yourselves; dreams, aspirations, likes and dislikes?"

"..." In the silence, they could clearly hear the sound of Naruto's stomach rumbling...

Last evening, Iruka had realized he could simply walk away from the odd silver haired man, so then Kakashi was left with nothing better to do than acknowledge the small mass of orange that had been clinging to his leg for the past twenty minutes. His name was Naruto Uzumaki and he, along with Shikamaru Nara and Sasuke Uchiha, made up his new genin team. Kakashi had wanted to begin introductions, conduct his aptitude test, and fail the little idiots that same day but Iruka had dismissed them all before he could get a single word out.

So, now the four of them were all sitting atop the academy roof at ten thirty in the morning as Kakashi initiated the awkward icebreakers.

"How about you Naruto? Why don't you go first?"

"My name is Naruto Uzumaki! I aspire to be Hokage one day, believe it! I also LOVE ramen and I think that Sakura-chan is very pretty. I don't really dislike anything... OH NO WAIT, I dislike arrogant temes who steal other people's crushes! Yeah!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes and Shikamaru tried to remember whether Naruto was trying to sound over-the-top on purpose or was really just that much of a bother.

For several months before graduation, Naruto was absent from class so Shikamaru never got to see him then. However, during that time he heard rumors from the other villagers that Naruto had managed to find and _master_ the Shadow Clone Jutsu from one of the 'Forbidden Scrolls.' Shikamaru could not be bothered to figure out what was actually so great about these clones but he deduced that if their summoning had to be learned from a 'Forbidden Scroll,' it could not have been easy to execute, let alone master.

The Nara descendant wondered what kinds of secrets were held behind that cheerful, blue-eyed smile and if he really was as dense as he let on.

"That's good, Naruto. So uh, Shikamaru, what about you?"

"This is so pointless, ugh... Well, I aspire to get through the day without having to think too much... but I admire Choji for his empathy and investment in other people... I don't really bother enough to really like anything but I guess playing shogi is pretty cool. As for dislikes, I feel for them like I do about my actual likes. But I guess I hate irrationality."

"Irrationality, huh? Hmm, that's very interesting for such a young boy. How about you, Sasuke?"

"I don't really like much of anything and I dislike a great many things, so I guess that information is irrelevant."

"Really, you seemed to really enjoy those tomatoes you brought to lunch last week."

"..."

"YEAH! Shikamaru is right; you ate like seven of those things!"

"Alright then, I guess I like tomatoes...I don't aspire to become anything but I must kill one man and avenge my family."

Kakashi nodded, Naruto rolled his eyes at Sasuke's cool aloofness and Shikamaru wondered what they hell he was talking about.

Was he talking about the _Uchiha massacre_? Shikamaru's father used to whisper to his mother about that slaughter when he was younger. From what he had heard, it had been an Uchiha who had gone rogue and killed off all his family members except for his younger brother, Sasuke Uchiha.

It never really made sense to Shikamaru. In his opinion, it made no sense for a clans-member who literally had it all to just-

"Alright then! I guess, I should speak about myself a little too!"

* * *

On the other side of Konoha, Kurenai Yuuhi was sitting under a Sakura tree watching her three genin interact. Unlike Kakashi, who usually took a very hands-on-approach while teaching his students, Kurenai preferred to observe, analyze and offer suggestions afterwards.

At the moment all three genin were busy. Kiba, and a now transformed version of Akamaru were spinning all over the place, yelling out in that typical teenage-boy way. Hinata was showing Ino how to get into the traditional position for the gentle fist attack and the yellow haired girl was helping her adjust it to get the best angles to suit her small frame.

Kurenai wondered what kind of test she could impose on her students. She knew of Kakashi's infamous bell test and figured that Asuma would most likely take his kids out for lunch while bluntly assessing their strengths and weaknesses, but she really had no idea what to do with her own.

What was a good way to teach twelve year olds how to bond, without thrusting them into the middle of a war? Kurenai wracked her brain to think of what she and her genin team used to do in their pastimes. Whatever it was, usually involved her, Asuma and Gai getting either scoffed at by Kakashi or creeped out by Anko, and Kurenai did not really thing subjugating her kids to read passages of porn novels or to watch someone lick blood off of a kunai was really, 'a bonding experience.'

However, there was that _one _time when she and the two boys had got Kakashi back for his purposefully awkward comments, and what she did then could definitely be replicated here.

"Kiba, Ino, Hinata, let's play a game," she called, giggling slightly. This activity would _definitely _be a good one.

"What is it, Kurenai-sensei?" asked the three in unison.

"I have an activity for you three; come sit here in a circle around me."

Wordlessly, the three kids sat cross-legged with their bony knees touching each others; Ino in the center Kiba to her left and Hinata to her right. Wide white, black and turquoise eyes stared up into her own red ones. The kids were perfectly at ease; unlike the other six, they thought that they had managed to score the pretty, orthodox teacher.

How cute.

She did not need to look into their wide eyes to enrapture them in her genjutsu, (despite her eye color, she was _not _an Uchiha) but it was still amusing to see Ino flinch as she felt herself falling into another dimension.

* * *

The three stood up on shaky legs and peered over the side of the monument and noticed that the streets were completely empty. Hinata activated her Byakugan and leaped behind Kiba when she realized that she could not detect any chakra other than her and her teammates'.

"I can't believe this! First day, and we are trapped in a _genjutsu!" _cried Ino, stepping back and searching high and low for some sort of clue.

"Where's Akamaru?" panicked Kiba.

"You can't cast a genjutsu on a dog, he's probably still in reality," reasoned the blonde, stepping out into the clearing having uncovered nothing.

"How d-do we get o-out?" wondered Hinata. The three genin came together in a circle and tried to think.

"Technically, just stopping the flow of chakra to our minds should release us. So let's all try that on the count of three," hashed out Ino.

"Th-three, t-two, one."

They closed their eyes and focused.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Ino-chan? I think, we're still trapped."

"YOU DON'T SAY."

"Shut up Kiba! Hm... Let's see, there must be some sort of objective we have to complete in order to get us out of here."

Kiba rolled his eyes but ran up the nearby Sakura tree and stared out in all directions before jumping to another one while Hinata searched with her Byakugan.

"Kiba-kun, Ino-chan, near the academy building, I see a chakra-infused scroll, it j-just ap-appeared."

"Seriously?! Like there aren't enough problems in Konoha already, our teacher has to _make up_ missions for us to complete!" groaned Kiba, jumping back down and propping his hands behind his neck. "You girls should just cool it, she'll let us out of here eventually."

"Because that's a great first impression to leave on your new teacher... _I'll _go get it," said Ino rolling her eyes.

"W-wait! Kiba-kun, I-I th-think you sh-should..."

"What is it?" asked the boy, impatiently.

"You should go get it. You're faster than Ino-chan and I th-think Kurenai-sensei is trying to make us work as a team..."

"Oh my, you are so right! That's probably exactly what she's trying to do. In that case, we should all go and tackle each problem together using out combined efforts and prove to her that we can work as a team."

"Y-Y-Yeah! Kiba-kun?"

"...Damn women," he mumbled, already half-way down the fourth Hokage's nose.

The two girls quickly caught up with him and were almost halfway there when they found that there were several things, or rather, several _people _blocking their path!

* * *

"Wait, _the _bell test?" asked Shikamaru, his jaw dropping to the floor.

Kakashi nodded good-naturedly and disappeared away. Normally, Kakashi did not disclose the premise of the test before the test, but the Nara kid had almost subtly coaxed it out of him.

Excellent. Kakashi thought his efforts were good enough to get the information out of any chunin ranked ninja so he decided to indulge the little genin.

"Shikamaru, you know what he was talking about?" asked Sasuke, looking around for any signs of the inconspicuous sensei who might be eves-dropping.

"If it's _the _bell test then I might..."

"Well, that's good then, you could help us win and get those free lunches he promised!" yelled Naruto, totally not interpreting Shikamaru's distress.

"Naruto, if it's _the _bell test, then we'll most definitely be lucky if we _pass._"

Naruto scratched his head for a moment trying to let that sink in as Shikamaru and Sasuke shared a look.

"That bad, huh?" murmured Sasuke. Damn, how in the hell was he supposed to get strong enough to avenge his family if he could not even become a full genin?

"Hokage Sarutobi used it on the three sannin. The frog sannin used it on the Fourth Hokage, who used it on Kakashi,. That is what I've heard..." groaned Shikamaru, wiping his hands across his face. He wanted nothing more than to curl up under the clouds and fall asleep for a couple of hours...

Hm, Sasuke's shorts kind of looked like pillows...

Shikamaru smacked himself on the forehead; he was not _that _tired.

"I'M GOING TO PASS IT, AND THEN I'LL BE A GENIN AND THEN I'LL BE A CHUNIN AND THEN I'LL BE A JONIN AND THEN I'LL BE HOKAGE!" shouted Naruto, cart-wheeling across the floor.


	8. Chapter 8

"Alright kids, dig in!"

Sakura, Choji and Shino all warily eyed their jonin.

While all the other teachers were off assessing their students' strengths, this guy was treating them out to lunch.

There was something weird about that.

And now they were faced with an odd situation in which all three genin tried to busy themselves with folding napkins, making small talk and ordering a variety of complicated drinks to stall the time while the instructor had on an exceptional poker-face. He grinned eerily at them all, as if willing them to start eating.

Sakura ordered her second pineapple mocktail and commented on the beautiful daisy bloom this year.

* * *

Choji's resolve went first. There was good food in front of him and he had not eaten since _at least _three hours ago, so it was either this food or something else for the little big guy. Thanking the teacher, he dove into his noodles. Even if something was sketchy about the food, he was confident that his digestive system would be able to deal with it.

Sakura and Shino shared a look (or at least Sakura thought they shared a look). Last night after they were sent home, Shino had very cautiously scouted some of his bugs to run some background checks on Asuma Sarutobi. Aside from a bunch of accolades, he seemed to possess a very relaxed personality and a booming voice that called things out as they were. A couple minutes before the Sarutobi descendant came; Shino had confided what he learned in other teammates and altogether, they decided that their teacher would probably test them point blank and bluntly comment on their abilities.

So when he instead showed off three free lunch coupons and a toothy grin, Shino was slightly sceptical if this was even the real guy.

* * *

But Shino ended up caving in too. He had fed one of his bugs a part of a noodle and it seemed fine, so if worst came to worst and the food was dangerous or something, the bugs residing within his body would take care of it. Nodding to whom he presumed was Asuma, he slurped alongside Choji.

Sakura, however, _still _felt uncomfortable eating. Unlike her male partners, she did not think that this potentially fake Asuma was actually fake. (If he was an actual assassin than there were quicker ways for him to use to kill them, and why would he target three harmless genin of fairly average clans? And if it was not an assassin than why would he even impersonate their teacher?)

However, her subconscious supplied her with a limitless stream of other things their teacher could be trying to do. What if this was some sort of training technique that made them all incredible fat like Choji?! (Hell no!) What if there was a chakra represent that made them all rely solely on taijutsu during training?! (Gosh, how she would suck at that...) Maybe these noodles were-

"EHUIFEUHWF!" cried Sakura. The man had taken the liberty of inserting a generous scoop of noodle directly into her mouth.

"Kid, you think way too much."

"eufphmhphfmph?"

"...uh, sure."

* * *

Eventually the three kids finished their meal, Sakura more slowly than the others.

"So, did you enjoy the meal?" asked the jonin, chuckling at his adorable team and their full cheeks. He received various methods of affirmation.

"That is a good thing. Because, THIS MIGHT BE THE LAST MEAL YOU'LL EVER HAVE."

"HUH?"

"That food contained a chakra represent."

'Damn,' thought Sakura. She should have listened to her instincts, but he did have to force-feed her, she noted with slight pride.

"And a body relaxant that responds only to my chakra."

"OH MY GOD," yelled Sakura. Why the hell would he do that? With horror coursing through her, she noticed that her muscles began to struggle to form her words.

"ARE YOU SERIOUS?" cried Choji, wheezing now too.

"...crap," said Shino whose voice was always muffled anyway. Well, there was nothing he could do about it now. Might as well just roll with the punches.

"Now, with these invisible chakra strings, I'm going to control your every move for the next four hours, including what you say. HAHAHAHA. Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you something; the moral of this experience is to never trust unknown shinobi, especially if you haven't learnt how to recognize chakra signatures."

"Butyooaweouweteashur! Anyooforsefefhmee!" cried Sakura.

"TOUGH LUCK, PINKY! YOU SHOULD HAVE SAID SOMETHING IF YOU THOUGHT SO! NOW DROP AND GIVE ME ONE HUNDRED! AND YOU, SUNGLASSES, SWIRLY CHEEKS, AS PUNISHMENT, I WANT YOU TO GANGNAM STYLE!"

"Wasagamkmam?" tried Choji.

"Don't worry. You'll learn soon! And then we'll go over the Dougie, the Shuffle and if I'm feeling particularly nasty, the CAT DADDY," called the jonin, flicking his hands out to attach chakra strings to the two boy's legs and arms and two more to Sakura's arms. He pulled her onto the floor and instinctively, Sakura landed in the push-up position. Asuma switched his strings to tie her legs together, forcing her to stay down. He placed a rock on her back to aid, in honor of his good friend Gai.

"START COUNTING!" he yelled, changing the strings and re-instating her natural strength but still controlling her mouth and actions.

"WATHAFA!" She cried. She was struggling to get up even with her full strength. Damn! This was not good at all!

"hehehe..." He watched with an amused expression as she trembled to raise herself more than an inch.

Asuma would have his laughs today, he decided, but from tomorrow onward he would be his usual self. He did not want to screw these kids up too _too_ much...

He signaled to a young boy who appeared seemingly out of nowhere with a boom box on his shoulder and a wicked grin on his childish face. "KONOHAMARU, HIT IT!"

* * *

"As I'm sure Shikamaru has informed you all, the objective of this test is to obtain both of these bells which I have attached to my hip here..." said Kakashi, getting quieter and quieter once he realized that nobody was paying attention to his instructions.

Sasuke was sulking in a corner murmuring something about changing the color of his shorts. (Well, white _was_ very un-ninja-like) Naruto was being as inconspicuous as possible to try and touch the very top spikes of Shikamaru's ponytail and Shikamaru himself looked ready to fall asleep where he stood.

Kakashi briefly wondered if they had set it up to look as though they were not paying attention, or were really just not paying attention.

Very impressive.

He smiled with his eyes. "You have until nightfall to do so and may use whatever means you see fit... Your time starts n-"

"KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!"

Kakashi sighed and flipped open his book, already having calculated the time it would take for the twenty Narutos to approach him. If this was the way they were starting their attack then maybe he was over-estimating his team. He noted that Shikamaru was ninety feet to the right and Sasuke, twenty to the left.

He frowned as he dodged the first clone's aimless left hook and flipped another page on his book. With his unoccupied hand, he began eliminating the enthusiastic clones.

Eventually, Kakashi and the limitless clones developed an easy rhythm, _swerve left, tackle forwards, high kick, double punch, tornado kick, gut punch and then repeat._

So after about five minutes of this, Kakashi was slightly surprised when he received an extra tornado kick. He swerved to the right to accommodate the new attack and lifted his left hand to deflect Naruto's subsequent attack when the clones all suddenly leaped into the air and began performing hand seals!

"KATON: GOKAKYUU NO JUTSU!"

"WHAT?" Kakashi shouted. Where did that come from? The jonin whipped his head to the right in time to see what looked like _another _clone of Naruto blowing fire into an impressive ball directed right at him.

Kakashi just barely jumped out of its way when his vision was filled with smoke. The smoke of a hundred dispelled clones. Would he have to activate his Sharingan!?

The shocked jonin regained himself just in time to sense a presence behind him as his body floated through air. In his peripheral vision he could just make out the real Naruto reaching forward to just _graze_ the fabric of his jacket during their suspension in mid-air. Damn, if only Naruto could just-

"ONE THOUSAND YEARS OF DEATH," cried Kakashi, somehow appearing directly behind Naruto. Without further ado, he flawlessly executed the technique and sent Naruto crashing into Sasuke. Hurriedly re-orienting themselves, the two boys ran forward in time to see Kakashi land gracefully on his feet.

Exactly five and a half inches in front of the maximum reach of Shikamaru's shadow trap.

"ARE YOU SERIOUS!? _ARE YOU SERIOUS!?" _screamed Naruto, pointing at the stretched out shadow behind Kakashi.

Sasuke punched him in the shoulder but it was too late. The damage was already done.

Cautiously, Kakashi turned his head to see his third student crouching low behind a bush with his hands locked into the seal of his clan's signature technique. He followed the shadow from his small feet right up to a couple of inches before his own larger ones.

He was silent for a couple minutes before he smiled at all three of them.

Then he promptly turned into a log.

* * *

"I WILL BE HOKAGE, DAMN IT!" Naruto screamed into the air as if Kakashi was hiding in the skies before the three boys fell silent.

Shikamaru cleared his throat. "Damn... I'm, I'm r-really sorry, guys..." he mumbled. He stepped out of his hiding spot and the three genin looked at each other.

"WHY ARE YOU SORRY?! YOUR PLAN WAS THE AWESOME-EST THING I HAVE EVER HEARD! OTHER THAN THAN 75% SALE THEY HAD ON RAMEN LAST MONDAY. BUT, SHIKAMARU, YOU _SHOULD NOT_ BE SORRY!"

"We'll just have to do better next time..." added Sasuke. "Besides, there were a couple moments in there where I think we had him _really _confused."

Shikamaru sighed and stepped back into the clearing. "This is so troublesome, but alright. Let's do this. Get me some pebbles and a stick, I think I have a new idea."

With a nod, the two stronger boys ran off to complete the other's request.

* * *

"SASUKE! Ithinkyourtechniquewasreally coolandiwaswonderingifyoucou ldteachittome!"

"AH! Naruto, what the hell was that?"

"_I said..._ that I think your technique was really cool and that I was wondering if you could teach it to me."

"..."

"Fine, forget I asked, bastard."

"No, it's not that. I was just thinking about when I learned that technique."

"Oh really? Maybe you could whoever taught you to teach me, if you don't want to?"

"...It was my father who taught me, Naruto."


	9. Chapter 9

As the three genin teams attempted to complete the tasks put forth by their jonin instructors, the day grew long and before anyone was the wiser, it was nightfall.

Asuma wiped the last tears of laughter from his eyes as Choji and Shino were released from their dance-binds and Sakura from hers. He bid Konohamaru goodbye and scooped up his weary genin and jovially delivered them to their worried (and slightly creeped out) parents before returning to his own home. He scribbled out some legitimate lesson plan ideas and fell asleep with a grin on his face.

The all-boys team was completely beat too. Shikamaru's head hurt like someone had pelted his forehead with boulders, Sasuke's mouth was burnt worse than it did when he was first trying to learn the Grand Fireball Technique and Naruto felt feint from summoning over five thousand six hundred and twenty-four shadow clones. Kakashi told them that he was impressed with their teamwork, gave them a location to meet at the next day and vanished without a trace. The three boys mumbled their good-bye's and returned home, still not entirely sure if they had passed Kakashi's test.

* * *

Kurenai's team, however, was another story altogether.

The beautiful jonin instructor was sitting atop the Hokage monument waiting to see if the new genin would be able to meet their challenge. She leaned forward on her knees waiting for Akamaru to return from giving the Inuzuka, Hyuuga and Yamanaka notes explaining the absences of their respective children.

Like previously mentioned, Ino, Kiba and Hinata were trapped in Kurenai's genjutsu. Initially, they were in what seemed to be an 'empty' Konoha but as they made their way through the unpaved roads to get to the chakra-emitting scroll across the town, suddenly it was not.

Out of what seemed to be thin air, appeared four people; each one a Hyuuga. To the far right stood a young girl around seven years of age with frustrated eyes and crossed arms. She was tapping her foot impatiently on the ground as she glared at each of the genin. To her left stood a curvaceous woman who greatly resembled Hinata but with long blue-black hair. She had an overall gentle, content look about her, although the trembling around her lips spoke of insecurities and troubles. She had her left arm on the shoulder of a man who was easily the scariest looking individual all three of them had ever seen. He looked a lot like the young girl but his eyes were more _angry _than frustrated and he looked more irritated then impatient. Finally to the far left, stood a boy who looked about the same age as them, if not a little older who's smile was both amused and sadistic. He wore a black headband, the back of which he was fiddling with. With narrowed eyes, he pulled off the headband to reveal a jade seal and glared straight at Hinata who seemed to shrink into the ground.

Ino raised an eyebrow contemplatively as she wondered what to do and Kiba tried to inconspicuously draw a kunai.

"Hinata-chan, these are you relatives, right?" asked Ino, trying to figure out what exactly Kurenai was playing at.

"Y-y-y-y-y-y-y-y-

_"Hmph. Just look at her, she's pathetic. She can't even finish her sentence,"_ hissed the boy, stepping forward agressively. _"And they think she deserves to be heir to the Hyuuga clan? My poor father is rolling in his grave."_

"Who are you?" wondered Ino aloud. She recongized the man and the girl from various Konoha festivals over the years and remembered attending the funeral of the woman, but this boy was new.

_"Although, it doesn't matter to you,"_ he said, spitting out the 'you' as if refering to some low life scum. _"I am Neji Hyuuga and one day I'm going to be a humble servant to the outstanding example in front of a shinobi cowering behind you."_ His voice dripped with sarcasm as continued to stalk forward.

_"Sweetie, sweetie, Hinata-chan," _called the woman suddenly. _"Maybe, this lifestyle isn't for you. Maybe, it's time that you gave up. Take the jewels that I left in your name and go start a quiet life out of the country where you can be happy and without stress neh, Hinata-chan...?"_ The pretty woman stepped forward with open arms as if she could physically convince her eldest daughter to listen to her.

_"Hm, I think at this point I've realized you aren't even worth my words. Disgrace. Come Hanabi,"_ said the other man in a monotonous tone that was somehow even more chilling than the venomous one Neji had used.

_"You know,"_ said the other girl, throwing the words over her shoulder as she followed her father, "_I used to look up to you. You were supposed to be there for me to talk to, to confide in, to learn from but I can't. I'm only seven and I've already surpassed you, nee-chan."_

"No. Wait I can chan-" Hinata started but she stopped when all of a sudden, a killer intent flooded her senses as Neji took one final step forward.

"Eight Trigrams: Sixty-Four Palms," he whispered, simultaneously activating his Byakugan.

Frustrated and not willing to be taken down so easily, Hinata activated hers a millisecond after and before even a single breath could be inhaled, the two of them were fighting.

Ino was stunned.

_Open palmed hands flying, connecting, deflecting off of each other as a strong wind was created from the circular motion of their dance-like battle._

Hinata was using the tips Ino had told her to and was holding her ground adamantly but the sheer force behind Neji's attacks was getting to be too much.

Kiba reacted, he lunged forward with his kunai quickly followed by Ino, who threw several shuriken, but it was too little too late. Hinata had zoomed backwards from one extremely powerful strike, her petite body crashed through two walls before it finally stopped moving.

Everyone was silent until they heard the unmistakable sound of someone choking.

Regaining her senses, Ino shot the rest of the Hyuugas one last disgusted look before racing after Hinata. She skidded to a rough stop, two paces too far ahead. She crawled back through the debris and cradled the injured Hyuuga in her arms.

"I-I never realized... N-no wonder y-you're s-so..." Ino could barely say a word, her throat was choked with tears. Her family _sucked!_

She schooled herself and took a deep breath. This _was so_ not the time for a girly, emotional break down. She laid the smaller girl upright against herself, trying to staunch the blood flowing freely from the back of her head by bunching up one of her arm-warmers and pressing it tightly against the wound. Although, Ino could clearly see it was not working. Soon, the white cloth was bright red and there was blood all of her hands. She ripped the other one off and used that too, tying it tight across her forehead.

Just then, Kiba came bounding into the room. "Hey, all the Hyuugas disappeared and it was like- HOLY CRAP!" he yelled at the bloodied mess surrounding his two teammates. He immediately threw off his jacket and began ripping out strips of the fabric, handing them over to Ino to bandage across her forehead.

The pressure was getting better, but there was nothing to keep Hinata awake. Kiba squeezed her hand and Ino tried to encourage her to stay with them.

"Please, Hinata-chan? You were so good back there! That guy was so scary and there you were all strongand brave. I-, we're really proud of you!"

The doe-eyed girl smiled and curled into the warmth of the pretty girl beside her.

"Thanks. That means a lot. I could have pr-probably done worse... At least I didn't_ immediately_ faint..."


	10. Chapter 10

Nonetheless, regardless of what Ino pleaded, Hinata fell unconscious. Her pulse weakened and her breaths only came in heavy pants of air as her body struggled against it's weakened state.

As Ino held the girl tight, she started to feel the weight in her arms getting lighter and lighter. It was really the oddest thing. The blonde pulled back to examine the near-weightless girl and to her great surprise, the colouring of Hinata's hair, skin clothes started to fade in tandem.

She was utterly bewildered. She nor Kiba could move a muscle as their teammate dissapiated into nothingness. Teal eyes met black as they wondered what the hell was going on.

"I g-guess we should m-move on..." whispered the remaining girl, turning away as she wiped the tears from her eyes.

Kiba stared with his mouth hanging open. From their grad class, Ino had always been the tough girl. Hinata cried in the washroom close to every other day and Sakura actually cried every day when she was a kid, but Ino _never_ cried.

She used to say it made her make-up run. And that was a big deal.

Kiba gulped. This was going to be harder than they , he nodded in agreement and the two genin took off.

They were extremely cautious in their next movements, creeping with their backs to the walls, just barely inching forward in the hopes that they would go unnoticed. They were actually doing a very good job.

Unfortunately, it is impossible to avoid a genjutsu, when you are already _in _the genjutsu.

So, even though they could see it coming, they still jumped three feet in the air when they heard the voice of their latest opponent.

* * *

Kurenai was almost asleep when she heard Hinata coughing up blood. She ran over and placed two fingers on her forehead, trying to assess the damage Hinata had sustained.

That Neji boy had very nearly killed her!

She swore. Extremely loud. Her vocabularly was so impressive that grown men would have been blushing upon heraing her swearing. She had had no idea that Neji harboured that much hate towards the main branch! If she had, she would have never created a simulation that close to reality. She quickly dispelled Hinata from the genjutsu, and shook her to get her to regain consciousness.

"Hinata? Hinata..?" she ventured quitely, touching the blood on her student's lip gingerly.

Fuck! And this was her first genin team too! What was the Hokage going to say? She had probably scarred these kids even worse than Kakashi had! And he was a pervert! She quickly formed the hand sign to dispell the full genjutsu, when Hinata suddenly shot forward and hugged her.

"I-I d-definately, n-needed that. Thank you, K-Kurenai-sensei," she whispered, wiping the blood away with the back of her hand.

"I'm glad you think so, but I think that maybe it was a bit much on the first day. I should dispel it-"

"NO!"

"...?"

"Excuse me, Kurenai sensei. I meant no d-disrespect. I meant, 'no' as in, I really don't think that you sh-should. I'm sore but it was a good experience. I also feel much closer to Kiba-kun and Ino-chan."

"Hmm. If you say so. Would you like to see them?"

"...Can I?"

"Sure!"

So unbeknownst to the two trapped children, Hinata and Kurenai observed the rest of their journey.

* * *

"Who are you, sir?" asked Ino, taking a tentative step backwards. Even though it was probably useless in their predicament, it never hurt to be polite!

Fortunately, he did not look particularly threatening but she knew now that it was best to be on her guard. She held three shuriken and a spool or wire behind her back and waited for an answer that would never be said.

After a couple moments, Ino grew nervous. She turned to face her teammate only to find him... _growling?!_

"Kiba!" she called, laying a hand on his arm. She immediately felt the chakra waves rolling off of him and pulled back, yet again unaware of the situation.

"He is my father..."

Well that cleared things up. Maybe he abused Kiba? She faced forward and observed the man.

_"Unfortunately. Although, sometimes I wonder how much of that is true. I mean, just look at yourself, you're the spitting image of that bitch. Hana too, I presume? I can't even say I regret leaving."_

Ino was floored. Was this man insulting his own children? And their mother? The woman that he once loved? She could not decide if she was more sadenned or angry.

"FUCK YOU," cried Kiba, launching forward to attack the man. "YOU TALK BIG. BUT YOU JUST RAN AWAY LIKE A COWARD!"

He scoffed and easily flipped the boy over, dodging the attack. He may look incredibly strong, but he was really fast and his movements were unpredictable._"Excuse me for not wanting to deal with that monstrous woman. I'm not even sure if she _was _a woman..."_

Whipping a kunai out from behind him he swiped it through the air, leaving a giant, bloody cut down his son's arm.

Ino scowled. She was not going to let another teammate down. With deadly precision she threw all three shuriken at the man.

He dodged them and gripped the front of his Kiba's jacket, holding him up and suffocating him. _"And look at you Kiba-kun. I knew growing up in that household, you'd turn into a little bitch too. Letting little _girls _fight your battles for you... Tch, I'm GLAD I don't have to call you my son."_

"I-I-Ino st-sta-stay, a-wa-wayyy," he chocked, struggling for his breathe.

'Too bad,' thought the blonde as she pulled on the strings connected to the shuriken. 'I'm not going to let you die, even if you _want _too!' She pulled the metal wires in such a way that the shuriken looped around the man's body and trapped his arms and legs close to his body.

"GET HIM!" she screamed. She was forced to let go of the strings when she felt an electric shock hit her through the wire. Kiba had about three seconds to attack him before he got lose.

He used them well. Using this strange-looking wind technique, he tackled his father into the ground until they both heard the very disturbing sound of bone-crunching.

"My mother raised me and Hana right. She raised us to respect each other, ourselves, our comrades. Something you could never teach us. I am _proud_ to call her my mother, and I am proud to be called her son," he said, eyes red and stinging with tears.

Ino, Hinata and Kurenai were shocked. Although the jonin knew about Tsume Inuzuka's cowardly husband who she supposedly 'scared away,' she never thought about how that would have affected Kiba. None of them had ever seen such an emotional side to the normally boisterous and outgoing boy.

"You?" he suddenly grinned, pointing at him with his forefinger. "I couldn't even bring myself to call you a _human, _let along my father."

Like Hinata had, this man also began to disappear. He faded away until there was nothing left of him or of his fight with his son. Nothing, but the tears that silently dropped from Kiba's cheeks to the Earth below.

Ino ran up to Kiba and wrapped an arm around his middle. "Good job, Kiba. I'm proud of you too. You did great."

"Thanks," mumbled the boy, turning away as it was his time to hide his tears.

"What are you so bothered about? Go ahead, cry! Unless, _you're _wearing eyeliner too!"

All four members of Team Kurenai had a laugh. And all but one of them kept on laughing as Kiba also began to fade.

"KIBA!" screamed Ino, feeling her hands go straight through the boy.

"Hey Ino, don't worry! You'll be fine. I know you got this!..." he said honestly, but Ino couldn't hear him after he called her name, his voice was too soft.

She quickly hid behind a wall and tried not to hyperventilate.

* * *

**A/N: **Oooh! What's Ino's vice going to be? Also, sorry about the EXTREMELY OOC!Kiba's-Dad. I have no idea if he could use a lightning technique, or was that fast but I assumed he was a good ninja?

Mahh, any comments? ;3


	11. Chapter 11

Kiba came back to reality with what felt like a splitting headache. He was no class topper but he knew that what happened in genjutsus did not actually happen to people's bodies but fuck if it did not hurt! His entire body felt like lead and he was sure that he could taste blood in his mouth, like when his father had uppercut hit him in the illusion.

"Some genjutsus, the powerful ones I mean, can induce a psychological effect so powerful that your body can respond to the stimulus as though it were really happening."

"WHOA. S-So, you must be really powerful, huh, Kurenai-sensei?"

The woman smiled slightly. "I excel at genjutsu, I guess. I'm maybe one of the best here, but, I've still got nothing on what the Uchihas co-"

"I feel bad for the guy that ticks you off."

Kurenai blushed darkly and Kiba grinned. Akamaru yipped in agreement and nuzzled the woman's knee in a way that resembled a close friend elbowing one's side while teasing.

"Kiba-kun, come see I-Ino-chan's turn," called Hinata, motioning for the boy to take a seat beside her. Kurenai had created a sort of window into Ino's eyes that could be seen through her forehead. Kiba quickly tucked Akamaru into his hoodie and joined the two females surrounding Ino's body.

* * *

Ino was starting to very slowly calm down.

She still had a kunai in one hand, a spool of wire around her wrist and one of her hands positioned into a loose replacement jutsu seal but she could feel her pulse rate slowing down.

It had been more than half an hour since Kiba disappeared and nothing had happened, which was both re-assuring and highly disconcerting but it allowed the girl to reflect on any vulnerabilities or insecurities in her mind.

She had a really good childhood in her opinion, which was the only one that actually mattered.

Her mother had a sort of elegant, regal air about her and was the quiet parent relatively speaking. She kept Ino on her toes with day-to-day affairs but complimented her adaquently and instilled a strong sense of pride in her daughter.

And Ino had always been a bit of a Daddy's Girl, so no complaints there.

The blonde was popular as a youngster and even more so in her pre-teens. In fact, (much to her father's chagrin) she had been asked out a grand total of four times so far.

She had ranked first in her graduating class, (only because Sasuke refused to participate in the 'Team Shuriken' field practicals and Shino failed to act anything like Naruto in their 'Henge Day' assessment, but _still_) and was all-round fabulous.

Suddenly, she frowned.

Yeah, her life had been perfect, if it wasn't for one tiny, tiny (_minuscule_, really) problem.

And suddenly she was nine years old again.

* * *

_"There's such a nice breeze under these Sakura tree,"mumbled Ino, running her hands over the knotted trunk of the plant before her. 'I'll bring Sakura here tomorrow after school. We can have a picnic and braid each other's hair,' she thought, as a cherry blossom landed neatly in her outstretched hand. 'I wonder if Papa, will make me his special onigiri... Oh, who am I kidding? Of course he will! And I can always use my report card for extra leverage! I was the only girl who could throw three shuriken in one hand! He'll be so proud!'_

_Grinning to herself, she pulled a kunai and started to engrave something into the tree before was halfway done when she heard a voice calling for her._

_"Ino! Oi, Ino," it was a young boy with blonde hair and blue eyes. He had weird whisker marks on his cheeks. "Sakura-chan asked me to call you over. She's by that tree over there," he said, pointing at a faraway bench. It was shaded by a Sakura tree._

_"Thanks," she said, turning around to walk to where her friend was. "Oh and by the way," she called from over her shoulder, "You've got really nice eyes, you should try wearing some more blue! I'd lend you something of mine, but I think I'm too much taller than you..."_

_"Hey!"_

_"Haha, bye!"_

_Ino approached the tree. She was just going to cover Sakura's eyes from the back and do the whole 'Guess who?' thing, until she saw the gloomy look on her face._

_Furrowing her fair eyebrows, she slinked over into the seat beside her._

_"Hey Sakur-"_

_"I need to talk to you."_

_"You are!"_

_"Ino!"_

_"Okay, okay! I'm sorry! I don't know why you're so tense though. We both did so well on the shuriken test! I, obviously was exceptional, cause you know, I'm fabulous," she teased with an over-dramatic hair flip. "But damn, girl! You never told me that your aim was so good! Like that older girl, Tenten! By the way, remind me to offer to do her hair in a different style one day. Like, W-T-F, what's with those buns, right? And she's so pretty, too! But I think I'm prettier, hahaha!"_

_"Is that all you think about? How great you are?"_

_"Umm, no... Joking? Obviously, you know that."_

_"..."_

_"Anyway, I have some totally awesome plans for us I wanted to tell you later, so I'll share them now. But what did you call me down here for?"_

_"You like Sasuke right?"_

_"..." Ino's eyes widened as she froze like a statue. She could not even speak._

_"I like him too. This means we're rivals now," continued the pink-haired girl, not even looking at her. She stared at the folded hands in her lap, before simply getting up and _

Walking. Away. From. Her.

_"..." Ino felt like she was in a dream. Suddenly she became light-headed and her throat constricted. She wanted to throw-up but her body refused to co-operate with any of the jumbled thoughts, screaming, bouncing around in her head. Was Sakura seriously going to leave her like this?_

_She wanted to scream at her to turn around._

_She wanted to scream at her to stop being an idiot._

_She wanted to scream that she could fucking _have _Sasuke._

_She wanted to scream for her to stay._

_They could talk about this - work it out – something – _**anything...**

_But she did not. And the little green-eyes girl was to far away to even hear her if she had. Still, that did not stop Ino from staring at her back long after she could no longer see the pink blob of her clothes and hair. _

_She walked home that say with a heavy heart. Simply dropping her report card on her father's desk, she excused herself from work at the flowershop and cried herself to sleep._

_Sakura returned her hair-ribbon the next day. Apparently 'gifts' were not things 'rivals' gave to one another. She cried that night too. Her father had begged her to talk to him but she could not. _

_What could she say? 'Oh father, I'm crying because my best-friend, wait 'rival!' decided that since we like the same boy we couldn't be friends anymore. And I was too stupid to say anything and now I miss her and want to strangle her at the same time. I don't even really like him, I just think he's cute because I'm only nine and this is my first crush? Oh and I need you sign to the report card.'_

* * *

Then she was twelve again. In her regular clothing, crouching behind a wall with a kunai in hand, a couple hundred meters of wire wrapped around her wrist and her hands in a loose seal.

"I won't lose to you anymore, Ino. It's my turn to be number one. I've surpassed you," said a much older image of Sakura.

This older version appeared to be about eighteen and wore her pink hair long and straight down her shoulders. She wore a wrap-around red tunic and long black boots. She had grown taller too, glaring down at the shorter blonde with a scowl on her matured face.

"I don't need you anymore," she stated. "I have everything, I'm the best." Suddenly, an older version of Sasuke appeared behind her and placed his hands on the pink-haired girl's hips, inhaling the scent of her skin.

The duo smirked at the blonde as they turned around to leave the scene, with a glowing sunset suddenly appearing in the background.

* * *

Ino had not said a single thing.

Hinata and Kiba were exchanging pained looks throughout the whole ordeal.

Although Ino's demons were not in the form of abusive or absent parents and family members, they were no less real or hurtful. The entire team could see that Ino had completely opened herself up to Sakura, taken her under wing and even helped grow her into a beautiful cherry blossom that Ino believed she could be.

Although, it was apparent that those feelings were not reciprocated in the least.

That has got to hurt. A combination of betrayal, hate, jealousy, anger and self-deprecation that could very well make someone never want to trust again.

Hinata suddenly thought of the slight hesitation the blonde girl had had before fully embracing the girl although, she never knew it had been this severe.

Kurenai was cringing. Perhaps the genjutsu was going too far. Women of her age, let alone girls of Ino's, find it extremely difficult to deal with these kinds of feelings especially when a relationship, platonic or romantic, lasts for as long as theirs had.

She was just about to release the jutsu when Ino burst into emotional, uncontrollable...

Laughter?!


	12. Chapter 12

"Oh man, I've been _waiting _for this!" cried Ino, running forward a couple of steps and flinging Sakura's arm around so they were standing face-to face.

"You. YOU. _YOU! _ Sakura Haruno, for some reason, I don't think your giant forehead is capable of understanding common sense, so you better listen up!" she began.

"First off, Sasuke. Really? _Really? _I couldn't give less of a rat's ass about him! He was a _crush_ for us, okay? A pretty thing that caught our attention but that's it! He wasn't anyone's knight in shining armor! He was an anti-social little boy, he _still _is an anti-social boy and he's so _un_romantic! He's great for eye candy and girl-talk but when I finally get a guy, he better damn well respect me enough to answer me when I call his name and appreciate and love me. You can have him."

The genjutsu Sasuke disappeared.

Hinata giggled.

Kiba stared.

Kurenai smirked.

"Secondly, Competition. We never had one. I never looked at you as competition for anything. You were my best friend and I was happy to see you succeed and you should have been happy when I did too. That's the way it's supposed to work. You can't just take, take, _take, _all of my love and advice and turn it against me by being my rival, you - you – you parasite! If I didn't want you to do your best I would have just left you alone on the sidewalk that day we met or kept my damn ribbon."

The genjutsu Sakura de-aged until she was about seven years old – just a little thing with teary big green eyes and messy pink hair.

Ino crouched before her.

"Thirdly, history. You and I were friends for a long, _long _time and no matter what you do or say, you can't forget that. Meeting you has changed me forever and it's done the same to you. Even after that day at the park I can't bring myself to hate you and I don't think I ever could. You think you're a big strong cherry blossom ready to outshine me – and maybe one day you will be – but _I_ saw all of your weakest moments and frailest thoughts and because of that I can't bring myself to hate that vulnerable Sakura."

The young pink haired girl smiled.

Kurenai sighed.

Hinata clapped.

Kiba hid his manly tears behind Akamaru.

Ino grinned and patted the child's shoulder.

"Also, you should know that if I wanted to, I could _destroy _you_._"

Everyone's expression froze.

Ino looked up into the sky and through her arms up, "I'm done!" she cried, not even bothering to see how genjutsu- Sakura disappeared in a whirlwind.

* * *

Kurenai obliged and soon Ino's body shook with the restoration of mind into body. The blonde knelt forward but immediately dropped back down. "Gosh, my head hurts worse than when my dad taught me the mind transfer jutsu," she mumbled. "I am _so_ done..."

"Same," said Hinata, blinking rapidly to clear the fatigue from her eyes.

Kurenai stood up and stretched her limbs. "That took much more longer than I expected, kids... Well, atleast you'll be tough enough to handle any genin task thrown at you!" she said with a sheepish smile

Judging from the various expressions of exasperation and narrowed eyes, the jonin quickly gathered that her three genin were not impressed.

Kurenai sighed. Well, so much for a great first impression on her first genin team. " You should head on home now," she said, jumping a good dozen metres away from the annoyed pre-teens.

Obviously, she could beat them all if she wanted to but her chakra was pretty low from holding a genjutsu for as long as she did and her kids proved to have more resolve than she expected.

"I'll see you at ten am on training ground three for our first mission! Good night!"

The red-eyed woman was gone before the soft rustling sounds of footsteps on grass reached their ears.

Innwardly grumbling about 'crazy women,' and 'PMS,' Kiba waved to Ino and Hinata before taking off into the East-end of Konoha where his family resided. Ino and Hinata moved a little bit slower – not as used to physical strain as the energetic boy – towards the Northwest end.

"I'd invite you over for tea or something, but I'm so tired I don't think I'd be able to lift my arms high enough to raise the kettle. But we're still on for Saturday evening, right?" confirmed Ino as they approached her front door.

"Of-Of course!"

"Also, great work tonight! You were awesome!"

Hinata blushed and tilted her head downwards, attempting to hide her face in her jacket. "Thanks. I-I tried, I guess. But you were so good. I-I really enjoyed watching you. There's a lot more to you than what peop-people think."

Ino grinned. "Same goes for you. Good night."

Hinata walked the rest of the length to her home in content silence, allowing her thoughts to reflect upon the most eventful day of her short life.

* * *

The following day was a blurr of menial tasks and boredom induced exhaustion – for the teams of Kurenai, Asuma and Kakashi .

On the outskirts of the village, Kakashi read his book on by the riverbank while his team waded through the water looking for debris, well, the two rivals moved through the water and Shikamaru just kind of stood there looking pensive. Naruto teased Sasuke about the petroleum jelly he had to wear on his lips from the previous day's multiple fireballs - _"Haha, you're wearing lipgloss!" _– until the Uchiha hit him square in the back with his Phoenix Fire Jutsu. This, in turn, burned Sasuke's lips even more and made Naruto whine loudly about having to order a new custom-made orange jacket.

The group was quiet after that until Shikamaru suddenly declared that he needed as much fishnet and wire as possible. Sasuke recalled having some unused spools at his house and Naruto dashed of to Ichiraku's to borrow their net. Then, when they came back, Shikamaru instructed them to tie the fishnet to the kunai he had driven into the ground on either side of the riverbank and riverbed. The makeshift barrier collected much more than their quota of full garbage bags.

Asuma's team was sent to watch over a jonin's four-month old triplets and by the end of the day were covered in various foul smelling liquids like bodily excretions and orange baby formula that Choji declared, tasted like foot. Shino and Sakura decided they'd rather not find out how Choji knew what foot tasted like. The group hurried about trying to get the house in order while Asuma shouted pseudo-helpful things like – "_Their father's an air jutsu user you know, I can't imagine what jutsu he'd use on you if he saw his house like this. Probably blow you right out of the village!" _- until Shino brought up the point that he was there team leader.

Needless to say, the work got done a lot quicker with a jonin's help. And just minutes before the father walked in to the house, Sakura managed to put the children to sleep with a perfectly controlled flow of chakra.

Kurenai's team was hired to help tend to a field of crops whose owner was away in the Mist Country for some sort of agricultural trade. but the group was pretty content to simply tie a watering hose onto Akamaru's back and let him chase after a pretty butterfly that Hinata found the previous day in the Hyuuga gardens.


End file.
